Story mode
To unlock the story mode in Mortal Kombat X, you must first complete the in-game tutorial. If you played the story mode in Mortal Kombat 9, you know that NetherRealm has a cinematic story-driven experience in store for Mortal Kombat X players. While the story mode in MKX is not as long as it was in MK9, it still has plenty of fights, and it's the only way to unlock Shinnok as a playable character (you can also grab stages and alternate costumes along the way). You can't select your favorite character and play through story mode like some other fighting games. Instead, you play through the cinematic experience, taking control of the main character in the story at the time of each battle. There are 12 chapters in the story, each featuring a different playable character. You'll even battle against a few characters that are not playable in the game. There are also Quick-Time Events (QTEs) that pop up throughout story mode. When you see a button on-screen, you have one chance to press that button before time is up. If you fail to press the button fast enough or press the wrong button, it may have an impact on the story. The button inputs are random, but if you take your time and focus on the button on-screen you can make it through the story unscathed. Most of the story mode battles are made easy enough to defeat your opponents with a character you may be unfamiliar with. However, if things get too difficult, by default you can skip three story mode battles. Simply pause the game and select the option to skip the fight. You can earn more skip tokens by finding them in the Krypt. You can also adjust the difficulty of story mode in the options menu. Chapter 1 - Johnny Cage Quick-Time Event Quick-Time Event Battle Against Scorpion Battle Against Sub-Zero Battle Against Jax Battle Against Shinnok Chapter 2 - Kotal Kahn Quick-Time Event Battle Against Kano Battle Against Tanya Battle Against Rain Battle Against Mileena Chapter 3 - Sub-Zero Battle Against Cassie Cage Battle Against Takashi Takeda Battle Against Kung Jin Chapter 4 - Kung Jin Battle Against Erron Black Quick-Time Event Battle Against Ferra/Torr Battle Against Raiden Battle Against Kotal Kahn Chapter 5 - Sonya Blade Battle Against Scorpion Battle Against Jax Battle Against Quan Chi Quick-Time Event Battle Against Kano Chapter 6 - D'vorah Battle Against Baraka Quick-Time Event Battle Against Rain Battle Against Mileena Chapter 7 - Takashi Takeda Battle Against Kenshi Quick-Time Event Battle Against Reptile Battle Against Erron Black Battle Against Ermac Chapter 8 - Jax Battle Against Kung Lao Battle Against Sindel Battle Against Kitana Quick-Time Event Battle Against Liu Kang Chapter 9 - Scorpion Battle Against Sonya Quick-Time Event Battle Against Johnny Cage Battle Against Sub-Zero Battle Against Quan Chi to Unlock Scorpion's Hanzo Hitachi Alternate Costume Chapter 10 - Raiden Battle Against Baraka Battle Against D'Vorah Battle Against Kung Lao Battle Against Liu Kang Chapter 11 - Jacqui Briggs Battle Against Reptile Battle Against Ermac Battle Against Ferra/Torr Battle Against Kotal Kahn Chapter 12 - Cassie Cage Battle Against Sindel Battle Against Kitana to Unlock the Infected Sky Temple Stage Battle Against D'vorah to Unlock the Infected Jinsei Chamber Stage and Two Souls in the MKX Mobile Game Battle Against Corrupted Shinnok 1 For more tips and Fatalities, read Prima's free Mortal Kombat X guide, and learn how to unlock Story Mode!